|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

23
American Carol, An
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
42
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
45
Blindness
58
Body of Lies
62
Burn After Reading
15
College
82
Dark Knight, The
43
Death Race
15
Disaster Movie
43
Eagle Eye
49
Family That Preys, The
57
Flash of Genius
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
72
Ghost Town
49
Hancock
34
Happening, The
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71
Horton Hears a Who!
55
House Bunny, The
36
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
61
Incredible Hulk, The
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
79
Iron Man
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
46
Lakeview Terrace
52
Longshots, The
24
Love Guru, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
51
Mamma Mia!
43
Meet Dave
37
Miracle at St. Anna
35
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
34
My Best Friend's Girl
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
39
Nights in Rodanthe
64
Pineapple Express
36
Righteous Kill
53
Rocker, The
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
51
Step Brothers
47
Swing Vote
60
Traitor
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
27
Women, The
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
72
Ghost Town
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
62
Burn After Reading
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
58
Body of Lies
57
Flash of Genius
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
49
Family That Preys, The
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
43
Eagle Eye
42
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
36
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
34
My Best Friend's Girl
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
24
Love Guru, The
23
American Carol, An
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
xx
All of Us
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
40
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
63
Appaloosa
65
August Evening
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
62
Baghead
81
Ballast
55
Battle in Seattle
59
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
Bustin' Down the Door
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Choke
xx
Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
41
Cthulhu
64
Duchess, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
33
Elite Squad
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64
Fall, The
28
Fireproof
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
65
Flow: For Love of Water
37
Forever Strong
39
Forgiveness
82
Frozen River
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
54
Hamlet 2
25
Hell Ride
44
Henry Poole is Here
31
Hounddog
53
Humboldt County
72
I Served the King of England
71
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
xx
Just Buried
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
52
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
63
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
62
Mister Foe
86
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
80
Moving Midway
46
My Mexican Shivah
73
Obscene
80
Order of Myths, The
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
55
Ping Pong Playa
77
Pool, The
72
Priceless
82
Rachel Getting Married
61
Red
55
Religulous
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
58
Save Me
72
Secret, A
45
Shoot on Sight
57
Sixty Six
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
16
Surfer, Dude
82
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
71
To the Limit
57
Towelhead
72
Transsiberian
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
84
Up the Yangtze
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
79
Visitor, The
61
Wackness, The
xx
Whaledreamers
54
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
67
XXY
55
Year of the Fish
39
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
86
Momma's Man
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
85
Alexandra
84
Up the Yangtze
83
U2 3D
83
Trouble the Water
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Frozen River
81
Ballast
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
80
Moving Midway
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Obscene
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I Served the King of England
71
To the Limit
71
I.O.U.S. A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
August Evening
65
Flow: For Love of Water
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Duchess, The
64
Fall, The
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
63
Appaloosa
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
62
Mister Foe
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Brick Lane
61
Red
59
Beautiful Losers
58
Save Me
57
Towelhead
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Year of the Fish
55
Religulous
55
Bra Boys
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
55
Battle in Seattle
55
Ping Pong Playa
54
Hamlet 2
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
54
What We Do Is Secret
53
Humboldt County
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Last Stop for Paul
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
47
Choke
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
45
Shoot on Sight
44
Henry Poole is Here
41
Cthulhu
40
America the Beautiful
40
Igor
39
Forgiveness
39
Young People F**king
37
Forever Strong
33
Elite Squad
31
Hounddog
28
Fireproof
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
25
Hell Ride
16
Surfer, Dude
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
xx
All of Us
xx
Whaledreamers
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Just Buried
xx
Beer for My Horses
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Music and Lyrics
Warner Bros. Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some sexual content
Starring
Hugh Grant,
Drew Barrymore,
Brad Garrett,
Kristen Johnston,
Campbell Scott,
and
Haley Bennett
When a washed-up eighties pop star (Grant) gets the chance to make a comeback, he teams up with an unlikely partner (Barrymore) on his road back to success.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Musical
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Marc Lawrence
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Marc Lawrence
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 8, 2007
Theatrical: February 14, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
96 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The movie is an unusually witty and intelligent romantic comedy and Hollywood's best Valentine's Day gift in years.

75
USA Today
Claudia Puig
This appealing romantic comedy undertakes the conventions of the formula without an inordinate amount of clichés. Music also infuses the overall plot with a satire of the music industry, and the pop tunes and lyrics are catchy.

75
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
This movie doesn't pretend to be anything more than a cheerful night out, and on that count it scores.

75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The planets aligned favorably, and this "Music" is sweet without cloying the appetite. It follows the meetcute-kissyface-breakup-reunion pattern of most of its kind, but the behavior seems more genuine and the situations less forced.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Music and Lyrics is frequently appealing, often witty, and occasionally funny, but it's not going to convert skeptics and cynics into sentimentalists.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
Grant and Barrymore are very enjoyable together onscreen. Who would've guessed that Barrymore would turn into such a deft comedian?

75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
As a premise, this is thinner than a strand of cotton candy, but fairy tales have been hung from less, and what keeps this one together is the surprisingly easy chemistry between Grant and Barrymore.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
The two generate more heart than they do heat, but that's the point. You want to see them together not just because they're adorable, but because you believe that their characters can take each other to a place neither could get to on their own.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Lawrence's take on pop music success is exactly right, satiric without being absurdist, and therefore a prize worth the effort.

75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
The film's a bit like a dessert that could have been dinner, particularly with so many winning elements (including songs by Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger and a brief appearance from a wickedly sleazy Campbell Scott). But dessert isn't a bad thing either, particularly when it's prepared with this much heart.

70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
It may be slight, but it's also buoyant and pleasurable, partly because the leads make the whole thing feel like a spontaneous duet. Lawrence trusts them to carry the picture, without feeling the need to throw in a lot of extraneous fluff.

70
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
I don't think the ending is up to the rest of the movie, but Grant and Barrymore are great together, and the movie has both zing and song.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Michael Rechtshaffen
An agreeably loopy romantic comedy that bounces along effortlessly on the genuine chemistry of leads Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.

70
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Grant carries the day as the fortysomething lad still living off his youth and just about getting away with it.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Grant is game for a new level of meta-ha-ha, joke's-on-me in Music and Lyrics. But with Drew Barrymore as his costar, this bland, light romantic comedy insists on keeping the commentary as disposable as one of the '80s gumball tunes Grant used to swivel to as Alex Fletcher, a washed-up '80s pop star.

63
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
In the end, the movie's just the kind of enjoyably empty-headed fluff it celebrates and mocks. It sits up, it begs, eventually it plays dead, and still you want to pat it on the head. It's a good dog.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Fortunately, director-writer Marc Lawrence (he also created the Hugh Grant-Sandra Bullock comedy "Two Weeks Notice") manages saccharine saturation by tempering his stars' familiar appeal with enough dry wit to make this low-key romantic comedy a not-too-sticky Valentine's Day offering.

60
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
The plot is paper-thin, and the set-up is beyond contrived (a plant waterer?), but there are a surprising number of laughs, and the saccharine content is kept to a minimum. A mostly enjoyable experience, all told.

60
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
While there is not much chemistry between Mr. Grant and Ms. Barrymore, they are professional enough to work with the movie's conceit while sending flickers of idiosyncratic charm off the screen.

58
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
If writer-director Marc Lawrence had stuck with Alex's faded glory, Music and Lyrics could have been terrific. It could have been about something. Instead, he's confected a curdled valentine.

50
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
What charm the movie has is almost entirely due to Grant and Barrymore -- the master of smarmily irresistible self-deprecation meets the sweetly vulnerable queen of awkward self-sabotage. While they have no romantic chemistry, they're certainly appealing.

50
Austin Chronicle
Toddy Burton
The result is either a brilliant bit of idol worship satire or a sign of the apocalypse. Despite the sad fact that audiences will surely settle for this watered down, kind of funny attempt at the genre, I couldn't help but enjoy the ride a little.

50
Premiere
Scott Warren
The music is catchy. The actors are likeable. It's all pleasant enough to watch but ultimately it's about as substantial as a pop song. Though it's unlikely to stay with you quite so long.

50
Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
Music and Lyrics suggests that it's going to be about redemption, the second act in the life of a punchline, but it feels as though it were made to fit a date on a studio's release schedule. (Happy Valentine's Day!) Oh, well, at least the songs are catchy, and the two-tone video for "Pop Goes My Heart" is inspired.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Grant hasn't had any real chemistry with a female co-star since Julia Roberts in "Notting Hill," but Barrymore works so hard at it and is so charming that you might be fooled.

50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Drew Barrymore is that rare movie starlet who can handle the comedy end of romantic comedy, but she coasts through her underwritten role as a goofy plant sitter recruited by Grant to write his lyrics.

40
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Remember "The Flight of the Phoenix," the movie about the misshapen plane, built from scavenged parts, that flies its builders to safety? Music and Lyrics is like that plane, up to a point. The plot is misshapen, the pieces are scavenged and nothing quite fits. The film does manage to take off, albeit barely, then flits around cheerfully in search of coherence, but finally crashes and fizzles.
40
Empire
Anna Smith
Music And Lyrics never really finds its tone. Fans of Barrymore and Grant are likely to enjoy their pleasing ramblings, and the modern-day, down-to-earth courtship is handled well. But this is unlikely to go down as either actor’s finest hour.

30
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Among its other sins, the disposable romantic comedy Music and Lyrics fluffs a golden opportunity to make hay with Grant's dark side.

25
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Inherently laughable, but in all the wrong ways.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 55 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|